Means for preparing amalgam for dentists&#39; use



W. IVI. MUCHOW. MEANS FOR PREPARING AMALGAM FOR DENTISTS USE. APPLICATION FILED MAY|2.1919.

Patented Oct. 26, 1920.

WILLIAM M. MUCHOVT, OEVANSTON, ILLINOS'.

MEANS FOB PREVPARING AMALGAM FOR DENTISTS USE.

Specification of LettersPatent.v

Application filed May 12, 1919. Serial N0. 296,518.

To all 'whom it may conca/rn.: i

Be it known that l, VViLLiAM M. Mtrcnow, a. citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city of Evanston, in the county of Cool: and 4State of Illinois, have invented a certain new and usetul Improvement in Means for Preparing Amalgam for Dentists Use; and l do hereby declare .that the following description ot my said invention, taken in connection-with the accompanying ysheet of drawings, forms a full. clear. and exact speciticatiomwhich will'enable others skilled in the art to which it appertams to make and use the same.

My invention relates generally to improvements in means tor preparing amalgam for dentists use: and it consists. essentially, in the novel and peculiar combination of parts and details oi construction. as hereinafter first fully set forth and described and then pointed ont in the. claims.

The object ot' this invention is the production of efficient and highly' effective means for prepari-ng amalgam tor use bv dentists in filling cavities in human teeth.

lt is desirable that the amalgam used h v.y

dentists be prepared shortly be'liore 'heing used, owing to the tact that the amalgam hardens very rapidly. Dentistsv are non" generali)Y mixing the metals tor producing the amalgam by kneading the same in the palm ot' the hand. an operation highl)l objectionable. unsanitary. poisonous. and troublesome. ln order to these objectionableifeatures. l produce this amalgam by placing the proper amount ot' mercury. and a proportionate amount ot the alloy into a small vessel. preferably clos-able. and then rapidly and violently shaking the vessel b v hand. whereby the amalgam is readily and rapidly formed. `\`\`hile it is possible to produce the amalgam as stated` l prefer to do the mixing and agitation of the composition mechanically: and in the drawings forming a part ot this spmiieatiou. l illustrates'evel'al mechanical de\"ieesb)v which the preparation oi the amalgam is automatically performed. whereby the time heretofore consumed hy'the dentist in preparing the amalgam is considerably lessened. and the patient-s occupation oi a deutists chair materially reduced.

Figure 1 is a perspective view .it an apparatus embodying my' invention. Fig. 2 is a like View of a modified form 'ot an apparatus suitable for practising my invention. Fig. 3 is a sectional view on line 3-3 of Fig. 4, of the apparatus illustrated in Fig. l. t is a transverse sectional elevation on line Lt--i of Fig; 3; and Fig. 5 is a plan oi' the same.

Like parts; are designated by the same characters and symbols of reference in all the figures. i

A, in the, drawings designates the base of this apparatus. I l

.is shown in Figs. 1, 3, 4 and 5, this base is, preferably, a wooden structure; and upon this base there is mounted a trame for the apparatus. which frame comprises a lplate 12, upon which there are erected two standards 13, 14. in spaced apart relationship, the upper ends out vhich terminate in. journalbearings 1:3, having removable caps 16. In these'journal bearings there is rotatably mounted a shaft 1T. at the outer ends of which there are secured annular disks 18, serving as balance, or fly wheels. Mcdially upon this sha'lt. between the bearings 15, there is fixed an eccentric 19, to be herein- 'at'ter again referred to.

Below the shaft T there is fixed in the standards 13, 14. an axle 20. and upon this axle there is oscillatably mounted a pendu hun lever B. This lever has mcdially'an oblong aperture Q1. in. which the eccentric 19 is constructed to operate. The upper terminal of this pendulum lever B is slotted. and in 'this slot there are secured two blade springs 22, the upper ends of which are formed into cups toreceive between them a container (l." whi`eh container "is, preferably. a so-ealled capsule. which consists of two separable parts telescoping one into the other.' 'This capsule is, preferably, madeof gelatin or celluloid. which substances aire not ,ail'ccted by mercury, which, together with the alloy orimetals to he amalgamed, are placed in the capsule when the amalgam is'to be prepared.

The shaft 1T is rotated by any suitable mechanism or motor, and when thus rotated, it will vibrate the pendulum lever rather rapidly, and this rapid vibration., `andthe violent shaking ot the metals contained in the capsule will very soon etiect the amalgamation ot said metals.4

Various means'can be employed for rotat ing the shaft 1T; but since a dent-istsoperls ating room is always provided with a dental engine, driven either by foot power or a Patented oet. 2e, 192e.

prime mover to operate the dental hand piece D, I prefer to employ this latter 1nstrument to rotate the shaft 17 and in 'order to connect this' hand piece to the shaft 17, I -iorm on said shaft an extension 24, which is engaged by the chuck ot the hand ieee D, which chuck is rotated by the usual exible shaft E, that connects the hand piece to the dental engine,= not shown.

`:to vv.The ydevice hereinbefore described is rather small, so that it can be readily held in o hand when operating; and in order that Iiti-,may be held in almost any position, I conneet the extension I5- sliort flexible shaft 26.

i' 'A device of the nature described is re quired to be as noiseless as it is possible to make the same, and to attainthis object,

jillform the eccentric 19 of acomparatively Z0 soft material, such fiber, leather, rawhide, and the like. I also surround the axle 2() 'with a closely-Wound coil spring 27, and clamp the lower end of the pendulum lever iBgto this spring by splitting the lower end .'25 lof the lever Il. as at 28. Figs. 1,3, and el,

luidI drawing the'two parts together byl a screw 29. This lever B will thus oscillate with the coil spring 27, which experience has demonstrated makes the operation of lo theJ apparatus practically noiseless.

...als already stated, this entire apparatus i'srtluite small, so that it can be conveniently hield inronehand, it weighing, a matter of fact lessthan two pounds. It-can be kept Se in a dentists operating room ready for immediate use, and being quite noiseless, it will notirritate nervous patients in a dentists reception room. 4In tact patients in the chair are generally pleased to see the de- 40 vice operating.

In Fig. 2 I have shown an apparatus slightly modified in construction, it being. an electric motor which rotates the eccentric shaft directly from the motor shaft.

46; Thus l. in this ligure indicates a small electric motor upon the shaft Il() of which the eccentric 3l is mounted. The pendulum lever B in this instance precisely the same 4as hereinbei'ore described and holds the cap` 50 Sule C in the same manner. T he base A, in this instance. lulu-ever, is largerv than the base A, in order to accommodate the electric fmotor F, and to receive' a rheostat G in the .'base, by which the speed of the motor is 65 controlled. f

This latter apparatus is more specially adapted for mixing` large quantities of the composition; but I have. tound that'when rapidly operating, the momentum of the vibrating pendulum lever causes the Whole apparatus to shake and rock. This objec 24 tothe shaft 17 by a tion I have overcome by providing the nachine with a balancing device Which acts somewhat similar to the balance Wheels 18 hereinbefore mentioned, which balancing device consists .of a rod 32, secured to the lower part oi' the pendulum lever, and carrying at its ends colmterweights 'l.

In an application for patent tiled by me on the 22d day oi March, 1918, Serial No. 224,089, for a method ot' preparing amalgam tor dental use, I have shown and described various apparatus for preparing this amalgam, all ot' which have as their controlling feature ot novelty the capsule container and 75 means for rapidly and violently shaking the capsule to' cause the amalgamation ot the metals in the container. and all oi' which accomplish the object in view more or less satistactorily. l prefer. lu'nvever. the two .types 80 ot' machines hereinbe'iore described. because.

they are less bulky, more silent, and more pleasing to the eye. v

While I have hereinhefore described the preferred embodiment of my invention, and a modification thereof, I desire it to be understood that l am aware that other changes may be made in the details of con struction and that parts may be omitted without departingfrom the scope of my invention as defined in the subjoined claims. l-Iaving thus tally described this vinvention, l claim as new. and desire to secure to myself by Letters Patent of the United rltates- "1. In a device of the class described, the combination of a base, an arm pivoted to f said base, and an eccentric for oscillating said arm, said arm terminating in a pair of iii'igers arranged in line with the plane of oscillation, said fingers having oppositely facing 'sockets and being composed of spring ,metal to provide means for receiving a container therebetweern substantially as described. l

2. In a device of the character described,

the combination of a support, a pendulum pivoted on said support, means for rapidly oscillating said pendulum in a limited arc. spring lingers mounted on said pendulum, the fingers being mounted in parallelisn'i with the plane ot' oscillation and each finger being provided with a socket at its end, the sockets facing .each other, and a telescopic 115 colitainer adapted to be received and held by engagement of its ends with said sockets. substantially as described. y

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my inventionVI have hereunto set my hand. WILLIAM M. MUCHOW. 

